It had been a few years since I’d taken a fishing trip thanks to illness but in the spring I signed up for this trip figuring I’d be back to 100% be fall. Well, I wasn’t quite to 100% and had some doubts just weeks before the trip but decided to go for it figuring the worst that could happen is that I flared up and had to be boated back to the car early, at least there was an option for that with this trip. Jeff decided to come out to join me since we hadn’t fished together since Miami and the Keys back in February 2013.
The trip was a hosted Gink + Gasoline trip organized by Louis Cahill who I met at South Andros back in 2011, was it really that long ago? The guide service was Jeff Hickman’s Fish the Swing and they seemed ready to deal with my diet and the possibility of an early evacuation if needed. The plan was to use jet boats to head to camp up the lower Deschutes and then fish split days from a single camp instead of floating the river like we did back in 2008.
Jeff arrived on Saturday so on Sunday we fished the local small rivers using tenkara. We started on the Middle Fork and did pretty well, getting quite a few fish. After a bunch of small fish Jeff finally connected with one of the nice Middle Fork cutthroat, his biggest fish on tenkara.
In the afternoon we headed to the Tolt where Jeff caught a big Tolt rainbow, he was on a roll with the big fish for the trip.
On Monday we headed out for the Deschutes but I promised to stop and take a break every hour or so. Well, the Yakima turned out to be the perfect rest stop so we stopped and fished the stretch above the Umtanum bridge for a bit. There I got one nice rainbow on a big Orange Stimulator and a bunch of grabs from smaller trout that couldn’t even eat the big fly. We stopped again in Goldendale and then made the last run to The Dalles to license up and finally headed to Heritage Landing where we were to meet up with Jeff, Louis and the other anglers on the trip.
The river wasn’t looking great, quite a bit of color but it was cooling down so we figured it would start to clear. We loaded up the boats with our gear and headed upriver on a somewhat exciting run up the rapids to camp. Once at camp we settled into our tents, had a brief meeting about how the trip would work and then geared up and headed out for the first afternoon of fishing. Jeff and I fished with Rachel and our guide was Barrett for the afternoon.
We started on the camp water which evidently was really good. Turns out it was, Rachel had a steelhead on within 30 minutes. I worked the lower part of the run on the inside while Jeff started above me and then was going to work the outer line. I had finished and moved off to another run across the river but on the outside of the lower run Jeff hooked his first steelhead which came unglued and then landed a very nice Chinook on a dry line and #5 Green Butt Skunk which is almost unheard of. Back at camp we found Louis had also gotten a fish that afternoon and Mac had landed and killed a hatchery fish for dinner. Speaking of dinner, Mark the chef did a great job dealing with my Paleo diet and I ate well the entire trip with lots of good food. I had absolutely no food or gut issues on the trip, it was awesome.
The next day was our first full day of fishing and we started just before dawn. The night had cleared up so the sunrise over the canyon wall was impressive in the morning, lighting up the rim and slowly working down the walls. In the morning we again fished with Barrett and nada. At lunch we came back to eat and I took a bit of a nap for a bit before gearing up to go out again. Late in the afternoon the fish started up and Jeff landed his first steelhead on a run. Just above him a bit I finally had a strong grab and landed a nice wild hen of about 6-8 lbs on my own. No photo of that one though, just as I was getting ready to take a shot the hook popped out and she swam away from my hands.
On Wednesday morning we again fished with Jeff but this time Louis joined our crew. We started out the morning in the camp water and it was incredible for me. I took the outside lower line today and about half way down had a pull and was into a fish. This fish never showed on the surface but stayed deep before finally popping off, could have been a Chinook, who knows? About 3 casts later I had another pull and this time it was obviously a steelhead as it went cartwheeling down the run. I got the fish mostly under control and was trying to wade to shore to beach it which was loads of fun. About half way to shore this fish came off too, argh. I figured my luck had run out but with about one step left in the run I hooked up yet again and this time stood my ground until help arrived. I finally landed the fish, a big hatchery buck of about 10 lbs that we proceeded to bonk on the head for dinner. Three fish in one small run right at camp, that was crazy. Jeff took me across river to another run where I had two more grabs and got WAY better on my spey casting. I will say, Jeff Hickman and Barrett were great spey instructors and really helped break some of the bad habits I had developed from fishing old Wildcatter and Mid-Spey lines back in the day when I learned spey casting. I’d highly recommend them to anyone wanting to improve their casting.
At lunch Jeff and I went trout fishing but had no real luck, I ended up hooking a small shad on a Pheasant Tail nymph and that was it. In the afternoon we hit a bunch of water upriver and Louis got a nice fish that I got to witness from the high bank as I was walking back to grab a jacket. I think Rachel had hooked up 3x that afternoon and landed one of them. That night we were all exhausted and I think everyone crashed just shortly after dinner time. One morning left on the Deschutes then off to the Yakima again for us.
The last morning we went out with Barrett again and hit quite a few runs for a half day. At the top end of one run Jeff had three grabs and finally hooked and landed the last of the fish that hit. A few runs later I had a grab and was into the strongest fish of the trip for me. This fish ran into the backing multiple times and just did not want to come in. It took a while but we finally beached a nice wild hen which we promptly released after a few shots. Louis hooked up a few minutes later and also landed a tough fighting fish just above me. Good way to end the trip, all three of us landing fish.
We got back to camp, had a snack and then packed up for the boat ride down the river. Once there Jeff and I loaded up the car and headed back towards Ellensburg, stopping again in Goldendale for lunch. We then hit the Yak at Lluma Creek a bit before dinner at the Canyon River Grill but no love from the fish, there was still tomorrow.
On Friday we floated the Yakima from the Green Bridge to the diversion dam with Anthony from Worley Bugger. We had perfect weather and an unbelievably fun day catching countless smaller trout and a few nice ones. A lot of cutthroat and a few rainbows, almost all on dry flies. I got most fish on a big stonefly or a very small Purple Haze, no, not that Purple Haze. Jeff again had the big fish of the day, a rainbow that hit the fly hard and ran fast downriver just before the takeout. It was a good way to end the day. Anthony was a great guide and it is too bad he’s moving to Boulder but I think that means we need to go take a fishing trip to Boulder next year.
It was a great trip and good to see Jeff and Louis again. I can’t say enough about Jeff Hickman and Fish the Swing and how accommodating they were for me. I told Louis that if the trip happens again next year to count me in, I’d go back in a heartbeat with these guys.